


you know it can get hard sometimes

by wearealltalesintheend



Series: Tumblr Prompts [11]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And support each other, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Light Angst, M/M, Protective Siblings, i dont know sometime after the apocalypse is averted, let them be a little more like a familly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-30 01:02:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18304994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearealltalesintheend/pseuds/wearealltalesintheend
Summary: “Is this Vietnamese food?”It’s a fair question to ask and Diego can see where Allison is coming from, but perhaps the more pressing question would be: “since when do you cook?”.or, Klaus helps make dinner, and the family learns about Vietnam.based on the prompt:The rest of the family finding out about Vietnam and eventually believing when he says he's sober because of this.





	you know it can get hard sometimes

“Is this Vietnamese food?”

 

It’s a fair question to ask and Diego can see where Allison is coming from, but perhaps the more pressing question would be: “since when do you cook?”

 

“Well, you know,” Klaus shrugs, sitting down himself at the table like this is just another dinner and not the most surprising thing yet to happen today, and honestly that in itself is a true feat. “There was this sweet old lady in the bar we used to go back in Vietnam, she used to give us free food. Well, me and,” there’s a barely noticeable hiccup on his voice, and Diego is sure the others don’t notice, except maybe Allison, but he does, and he regrets asking in the first place. “Dave. She said he reminded her of her son. Anyway, she taught me how to cook a few things.”

 

It’s strange to see Klaus grow quiet, his sentence ending without any exclamation points or nonsensical things to make someone laugh, and sure, it’s better than the mood swings from the first days after he came back from ‘68, but it’s still odd and uncomfortably sad.

 

His siblings, though, aren’t aware of the shit they’re dragging up when Luther frowns, setting his fork down. “Wait. Did you just say Vietnam?”

 

“Who’s Dave?” asks Allison, and Five grimaces in a way that tells Diego he also knows this is not going to be a good night for Klaus. 

 

“Right,” Klaus says, drawing out the word and pushing food around uninterested in his plate. A crease appears on his forehead as he stares down his glass, eyes unfocused. “I keep forgetting I never told you guys about the war.”

 

“I’m sorry,  _ war?”  _ Vanya coughs, choking on her soda in bewilderment. Which, Diego supposes is a fair reaction. “As in the  _ Vietnam War?” _

 

“That’s the one,” he snaps his fingers in her direction and points, but the cheerfulness in his gestures doesn’t reach his eyes. Klaus is always bleeding out emotions, and if his manic glee was easy to spot before, his sadness is no different, especially after everything they all went through together. “Remember that briefcase those psychos with the stupid masks were asking about? So, turns out it’s a time travel machine thingy. Sent me straight to 1968, smack dab in the middle of the war. Who woulda thunk it, huh?”

 

“Are you telling us that you fought in the Vietnamese War?” Allison asks so incredulous that Diego is surprised her jaw isn’t hitting the floor. She blinks, looks at Luther like she thinks Luther should say something and opens and closes her mouth a few times when he doesn’t. “Klaus, that’s– I mean, I’m so sorry, how did we miss that? Are you alright?”

 

“Oh, that’s because it brought me back to a few hours after I left. Very convenient, although I wouldn’t recommend it.” Klaus tries for a smile but it’s wobbly and so unconvincing, even Luther picks up on the sadness spilling at the edges. “And  _ I  _ am perfectly fine, it even got me to sober up!”

 

“So you didn’t spend much time there?” Luther mumbles his way into a question, clearing his throat.

 

“Ten months,” he says shortly, clipping his answer like it hurts to get the words out. Diego bets it does.

 

“Jesus Christ, Klaus,” Luther breathes, eyes going wide at the thought of Klaus fighting in a war in the middle of the Asian jungle, more than five decades ago. Ten months in that hellhole– Diego shudders at the thought. “Why didn’t you come back sooner?”

 

There’s a pause, and Diego watches as his brother sips his water with shaking fingers. His entire expression changes, softening into a gentle smile that Diego has only ever seen once before. It’s tender and fond, spelling out so much affection that leaves little room for grief. “I met someone,” he says quietly, almost to himself, and they wouldn’t have heard it if the room hadn’t gone deathly silent. “I loved him more than anything, enough to stay forever if–  _ I loved him.” _

 

The fact that Klaus had come back alone and his use of the past tense doesn’t go unnoticed by the others. Vanya looks sadly at him, reaching to pat his hand in comfort, and Allison lets out a little  _ oh.  _ “Was that Dave?” She prods, probably sensing it would be best for Klaus to unfurl his grief off his chest, lay it on the table, talk the hurt down. It might help, not that Diego would know, he prefers to keep things for himself. Sometimes it’s good to keep shit bottled up, sometimes you gotta hold on to the glass shards to remember what looking out the window felt like, even it if it cuts you. But that’s Diego. Klaus has never been like Diego when dealing with shit. 

 

“Yeah,” Klaus nods, smiling the same little smile from before, but it’s definitely sadder now, shaky like his hands. “He was an American soldier, showed me around when I got there, and– he was the best person I’ve ever met. The kindest, the most beautiful, it was like– I never believed in God, but I could believe he was an angel. I thought, I don’t know, that we were gonna ride out the war and, I don’t know, live life? Happily ever after, the whole thing,” now that he started talking, it’s like Klaus can’t stop. The words pour out of him like rain, sizzling down the dinner table. “And we were happy, these ten months. It was hell back there but it was paradise with him, until– war is a pretty dangerous place, you know?”

 

Diego rests a hand on his shoulder, squeezes comfortingly, because the waver on his voice is so unlike him, they all can’t help wanting to bring back his old self. Well, fairly new old self. The one that laughs without anything else in his blood. Allison averts her eyes, looking down at the flowers embroidered on the table cloth, “I’m so sorry, Klaus. We never knew– if you ever need anything,  _ we are here for you.” _

 

Luther nods along, terribly uncomfortable but seems determined to stick around to show his support, and Five is looking anywhere but at Klaus when he says, “I am sorry for your loss, as well. And as Allison said, we’d like to help.”

 

“Thanks,” Klaus grimaces, drumming his fingers on the table nervously. Everything about it screams the overall awkwardness about the whole thing. They have never been good at this emotional, sentimental bullshit, each of them bad at it in their own special fucked up way. “I’ll, uh, keep that in mind.”

 

A minute ticks by before Vanya speaks quietly over the second of the clock. “Is that why you got sober? To speak with him again?”

 

Klaus is the one coughing now, clearing his throat before replying. “Yeah, actually. What’s the point of this little cursed power if I can’t use it for selfish reasons once in my fucking life?”

 

“Did it work?” She asks again, equally quiet.

 

This time the look that crosses his face is half anger, half grief. “Not yet,” he huffs, stabbing his food with his fork. “But I’m not giving up on him.”

 

“Sounds healthy,” Five comments, sounding flippant in his usual way, but Diego can hear the underlying worry. The  _ I understand,  _ and he bets Klaus does too. “But I left Dolores at the department store, so what do I know, right?”

 

“When is the last time anyone in this family ever did anything healthy?” Diego snorts, taking the opportunity to dispel the heavy air hanging over the room.

 

“I, uh, ate a salad last week,” Luther volunteers in a rare show of awareness.

 

There are weak laughs from the others, and Klaus even cracks a smile. It’s a fairly weak start, but baby steps are still steps, and Diego had expected a much worse reaction from them. In fact, he had expected Klaus not to tell them at all.

 

It’s nice to get a good surprise for once.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hey, you can send me prompts or come to talk about this show at [my tumblr.](https://rad-hoodd.tumblr.com)


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